Russian Troika in Marquetry

Here’s my marquetry interpretation of a typical Russian “troika” scene. This will form the top (roughly 5.5×8.5”) of another small jewelry box. (From about.com: “The Russian troika is a sledge drawn by three horses harnessed abreast. The troika was a traditional style of cold weather transportation. Passengers would bundle up in furs in the back of the sledge to ward off often dangerously low temperatures. The image of a troika often appears in folk art.”)

My troika image is a mixed media work with double-beveled marquetry, inlays and gilding. For woods, I used my favorite big leaf quilted maple, mahogany, Hawaiian koa, padauk, purpleheart, aspen, holly, ebony, tulipwood and Chechen rosewood. I also incorporated veneers made from two types of acrylic pen blanks.

The inlay material is a mix of crushed/powdered turquoise stone and gold mica powders. For the horses’ manes and tails, and the rim of the sleigh, I used copper and 24kt gold leaf with an oil based size.